调查文件：被解雇的萨凡纳警员曾向其 ICE 探员丈夫开放 Flock 系统访问权限

佐治亚州萨凡纳 —

根据 WJCL 22 News 查阅的最新文件，萨凡纳市警察局一名现已被解雇的女警，曾将其所在警局的 Flock 车牌识别系统访问权限提供给其丈夫——一名美国移民与海关执法局（ICE）探员，后者利用该账号进行了数百次与 ICE 调查相关的查询。

记录显示，Amber Harpe 的丈夫并没有通过美国国土安全部获得自己的 Flock 账号。Harpe 承认将自己在萨凡纳警察局的用户名和密码给了他。

其丈夫对调查人员表示，他使用该账号是为了定位背负有效逮捕令的 ICE 目标人物。他声称每一次查询都与他的联邦执法工作有关，并否认将该系统用于个人目的。

萨凡纳警察局最终解雇了 Harpe，认定其故意向未授权人员提供敏感警用系统的访问权限，违反了部门政策，并破坏了用于追踪执法数据使用者的安全防护机制。

相关阅读： 六名萨凡纳警局员工因涉嫌滥用车牌识别系统被解雇

跨越六个州进行了近千次查询

此次调查始于一次内部审计。审计发现，在 2026 年 1 月至 7 月期间，Harpe 账号的查询量异常庞大。

审计共发现了 983 条查询记录，涉及来自佐治亚州、新泽西州、马里兰州、佛罗里达州、南卡罗来纳州和北卡罗来纳州的 97 块可识别车牌。

南卡罗来纳州的车牌占了绝大部分活动。记录显示，48 块南卡罗来纳州车牌对应了 788 条查询记录。警局文件还指出，审计中确定的大多数注册车主均为拉丁裔。

在 7 月 27 日的行政问询中，Harpe 告诉调查人员，她并不认识与许多查询相关的姓名。她表示大部分查询都是由其丈夫操作的。

Harpe 将涉及马里兰州和南卡罗来纳州车牌的查询，以及涉及佐治亚州车辆的大部分查询，都归因于她的丈夫。

她表示自己平时很少使用 Flock，通常只是在协助调查涉及行为心理健康患者的失踪人口案件时才会访问该系统。

Harpe 承认允许丈夫使用她的登录凭证，并且她明知部门规定不允许共享访问权限。

[视频/嵌入内容：警务人员涉嫌滥用技术后，萨凡纳市领导层为 Flock 技术辩护]

丈夫辩称查询目标均为通缉犯

在 WJCL 22 News 获取的文件中，Harpe 丈夫的姓名被涂黑。然而，萨凡纳警方与该丈夫的问讯音频证实，他名叫 Tyler Harpe，是一名联邦 ICE 探员。

在 8 月 3 日接受萨凡纳警方调查人员问话时，Tyler Harpe 确认，由于自己在联邦工作中没有 Flock 访问权限，因此向妻子索要了登录信息。

他表示，ICE 已经为他所查询的人员建立了“目标档案”，且这些人都有有效的逮捕令。调查报告指出，Flock 使他能够在执行外勤任务时尝试定位这些人员。

Tyler Harpe 估计自己使用该账号大约四个月。他说他在接受问讯前大约三周就停止了使用，因为该机构不再进行拦截搜查，他也不再需要该系统。

而 Amber Harpe 给调查人员的时间线略有出入，她表示丈夫在接受问话前一周左右就停用了，因为担心她可能会面临纪律处分。

Tyler Harpe 否认曾出于个人原因查询亲属、前恋爱对象或任何其他人。他坚称所查询的每个人都是 ICE 的目标对象，并表示 Flock 提供的线索帮助他的机构找到了有犯罪前科的通缉人员。

他也承认，使用另一名警官的账号可能违反了政策。

最终报告指出：“调查证实 Amber Harpe 将其 Flock Safety 登录凭据提供给了其丈夫。两人的陈述一致，均表明查询涉及 ICE 目标，且是出于执法目的进行的。”

相关阅读： 因滥用 Flock 被解雇的前萨凡纳警员为争取复职展开申诉

萨凡纳警局对移民执法表达关切

在调查文件中，Michelle Halford 警长（Major）写道，萨凡纳警察局并不参与联邦移民执法。她指出，审计中发现的人口统计特征，加之 Harpe 丈夫作为 ICE 探员的身份，令人担忧警局资源被未经授权挪用于推进移民执法行动。

Halford 写道，Harpe 的做法让其丈夫能够通过萨凡纳警察局的系统搜索和追踪人员，尽管他在联邦工作中并不具备独立访问权限。

她表示，这种操作使警局陷入了法律与声誉风险之中。

“公众的信任不容谈判，”Halford 写道，“这些工具的存在是为了保障我们社区的安全，而不是用于个人或未经授权的用途。”

调查并未认定 Harpe 违反了佐治亚州规范自动车牌识别器的法律。该纪律处分案件的核心，在于其违反了萨凡纳警局的信息管理政策——该政策严禁员工允许未经授权的人员访问市政或警局软件。

[视频/嵌入内容：6 名萨凡纳警员因涉嫌滥用 Flock 摄像头被解雇]

主管在量刑处分上产生分歧

警局高层一致认为 Harpe 违反了政策，但最初在她是否应当被解雇的问题上存在分歧。

临时警长 Max Nowinsky 认定了指控，但建议给予停职 8 小时（停薪一天）的处分。

Nowinsky 在报告中写道，Harpe 直接向丈夫提供访问权限表现出了极差的判断力。然而，他也强调，调查人员没有发现任何证据表明这些查询是出于个人原因或牟取个人私利。

他援引了佐治亚州法律，该法律允许包括联邦机构在内的执法部门为了合法的执法目的互通捕获的车牌数据。

Nowinsky 还考量了 Harpe 的工作履历。她于 2020 年 3 月加入萨凡纳警局，在行为健康部门任职，此前没有任何处分记录。警局文件将她描述为一名深受尊重的员工。

但 Halford 驳回了停职一天的建议并提议解雇，理由是蓄意共享凭据、长期重复的未授权访问行为以及违规活动的庞大规模。

副警察局长 Robert Gavin 赞成解雇 Harpe。

Gavin 承认州法律允许执法机构为了合法目的共享车牌信息，但他强调，这种法定权限并不允许 Harpe 私自共享个人登录凭据，也不允许另一人冒用她的身份访问系统。

“凭据只分配给单一授权用户，以确保问责制、审计完整性和系统安全，”Gavin 写道。

由于所有查询都是以 Harpe 的账号记录的，系统的审计日志将使用者识别为她本人，而非其丈夫。

Gavin 得出结论，Harpe 明知故犯地允许其丈夫绕过萨凡纳警局的安全防护协议，削弱了警局对敏感信息使用情况的监管能力。

相关阅读： 前萨凡纳警察局员工就涉嫌滥用 Flock 摄像头被解雇一事提出申诉

Harpe 辩称仅为协助兄弟部门

Harpe 承认了共享凭证的责任，但辩称解雇处分过重。

在申诉书中，Harpe 表示她的丈夫是一名持有资质的联邦执法人员，每一次查询都是出于执法目的。

“违规行为的发生，是因为我向我的丈夫开放了 Flock 账号的访问权限，而他是美国国土安全部的持证执法官员，”Harpe 写道，“他进行的每一次查询均严格用于执法用途，绝无个人私利。”

Harpe 表示，她只是试图协助兄弟部门，就像她期望其他机构在萨凡纳警方需要时提供协助一样。

她还辩称，如果换成由她应丈夫的要求亲自执行每一次查询并把结果提供给他，结果并无二致。

“这其中没有恶意，没有个人获利，也没有损害部门利益或破坏公众信任的企图，”Harpe 写道。

她请求警局领导层考虑其清白的过往纪律记录、多年的服役贡献，以及调查认定的查询确系执法工作所需这一事实。她请求给予书面训诫，或者至多接受 Nowinsky 建议的停职一天处分。

Gavin 于 8 月 11 日驳回了她的申诉，警察局长办公室在两天后正式同意了解雇建议。

[视频/嵌入内容：佐治亚州调查局（GBI）逮捕 4 名被解雇的萨凡纳警员]

撤回公务员委员会申诉

Harpe 于 8 月 19 日向萨凡纳市公务员委员会提出了听证申请。市政记录显示，对她的解雇决定于 9 月 26 日正式生效。

她在 9 月 28 日前后撤回了申诉，原定于 10 月 13 日举行的公务员委员会听证会随即取消。

最新获取的文件并未说明她撤回申诉的具体原因。

Harpe 的案件是萨凡纳警察局对 Flock 滥用行为进行更广泛调查的一部分。该警局的其他几名前雇员被指控出于个人原因查询恋爱对象、前任或其他普通人员的车牌信息。

Documents: Ousted Savannah police officer gave ICE agent husband access to Flock system

SAVANNAH, Ga. —

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A now-former Savannah police officer gave her husband, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, access to the police department’s Flock license plate reader system, which he used to conduct hundreds of searches tied to ICE investigations, according to newly obtained documents reviewed by WJCL 22 News.

The records show Amber Harpe's husband did not have his own Flock account through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Harpe acknowledged giving him her Savannah Police Department username and password.

Her husband told investigators he used the account to locate ICE targets who had active arrest warrants. He said every search was related to his federal law enforcement work and denied using the system for personal reasons.

The Savannah Police Department fired Harpe after concluding that she knowingly gave an unauthorized person access to a sensitive police system, violated department policy and compromised safeguards designed to track who was using law enforcement data.

RELATED:Six Savannah police employees fired after alleged misuse of license plate reader system

Nearly 1,000 searches across six states

The investigation began after an internal audit flagged an unusually high volume of searches through Harpe’s account between January and July 2026.

The audit identified 983 search entries involving 97 identifiable license plates from Georgia, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina.

South Carolina plates represented most of the activity. Forty-eight South Carolina plates accounted for 788 search entries, according to the records. Department documents also noted that most registered vehicle owners identified in the audit were Hispanic.

During a July 27 administrative interview, Harpe told investigators she did not recognize the names connected to many of the searches. She said her husband performed most of them.

Harpe attributed the searches involving Maryland and South Carolina plates, along with most of those involving Georgia vehicles, to her husband.

She said she rarely used Flock herself and generally accessed it to help investigate missing-person cases involving behavioral health patients.

Harpe acknowledged that she allowed her husband to use her credentials and understood she was not permitted to share her access.

Below file video: Savannah city leaders defend Flock technology after alleged misuse by police employees

Husband said searches targeted wanted people

Harpe’s husband’s name is redacted in the documents obtained by WJCL 22 News. However, audio from interview between Savannah Police and the husband identifies him Tyler Harpe, a federal ICE agent.

During an Aug. 3 interview with Savannah police investigators, Harpe confirmed that he asked his wife for her login information because he did not have Flock access through his federal job.

He said ICE had already developed “target packages” for the people he searched and that those individuals had active arrest warrants. Flock allowed him to try to locate them while working in the field, according to the investigative report.

Tyler Harpe estimated that he used the account for about four months. He said he stopped roughly three weeks before his interview because the agency no longer conducted vehicle stops and he no longer needed the system.

Harpe gave investigators a slightly different timeline, saying her husband stopped about a week before her interview because he was concerned she could face discipline.

He denied searching for relatives, former romantic partners or anyone for personal reasons. He maintained that every person he searched was an ICE target and said the Flock information helped his agency locate wanted people with criminal histories.

He also acknowledged that using another officer’s account could violate policy.

“The investigation established that Amber Harpe provided her Flock Safety credentials to her husband,” the final report said. “Both provided consistent statements that the searches involved ICE targets and were conducted for law-enforcement purposes.”

RELATED:Former Savannah officer fights to get job back after Flock misuse firing

SPD raised concerns about immigration enforcement

In the documents, Maj. Michelle Halford wrote that SPD does not participate in federal immigration enforcement. She said the demographic pattern identified in the audit, combined with Harpe’s husband’s role as an ICE agent, raised concerns that department resources had been used without authorization to further immigration enforcement.

Harpe’s decision gave her husband the ability to search for and track people through a Savannah police system even though he did not have independent access through his federal employment, Halford wrote.

She said the arrangement exposed the Police Department to legal and reputational risks.

“Public trust is non-negotiable,” Halford wrote. “These tools exist to keep our community safe, not for personal or unauthorized use.”

The investigation did not find that Harpe violated Georgia’s law governing automated license plate readers. The disciplinary case instead centered on an SPD information-management policy prohibiting employees from allowing unauthorized people to access city or department software.

Below file video: 6 Savannah police employees fired after alleged misuse of Flock cameras

Supervisors disagreed over punishment

Department leaders agreed that Harpe violated policy, but they initially disagreed over whether she should be fired.

Interim Maj. Max Nowinsky sustained the allegation and recommended an eight-hour suspension.

Nowinsky wrote that Harpe showed poor judgment by providing direct access to her husband. However, he also emphasized that investigators found no evidence the searches were conducted for personal reasons or personal gain.

He cited Georgia law allowing law enforcement agencies, including federal agencies, to exchange captured license plate data for legitimate law enforcement purposes.

Nowinsky also considered Harpe’s work history. She joined SPD in March 2020, served in the Behavioral Health Unit and had no prior disciplinary record. Department documents described her as a well-respected employee.

Halford rejected the proposed one-day suspension and recommended termination, citing the intentional sharing of credentials, recurring unauthorized access and scale of the activity.

Assistant Police Chief Robert Gavin agreed that Harpe should be fired.

Gavin acknowledged that state law permits law enforcement agencies to share license plate information for legitimate purposes. He said that authority did not allow Harpe to share her personal login information or let another person access the system under her identity.

“Credentials are assigned to one authorized user to ensure accountability, audit integrity, and system security,” Gavin wrote.

Because the searches were recorded under Harpe’s account, the system’s audit trail identified her — not her husband — as the user.

Gavin concluded that Harpe knowingly allowed her husband to bypass SPD’s security protocols and undermined the department’s ability to oversee the use of sensitive information.

RELATED:Former Savannah police employees appeal firings over alleged Flock camera misuse

Harpe said she was helping another agency

Harpe accepted responsibility for sharing her credentials but argued that firing her was excessive.

In her appeal, Harpe said her husband was a certified federal law enforcement officer and that every search was conducted for law enforcement purposes.

“The violation occurred because I gave my husband, who is a certified law enforcement officer with the Department of Homeland Security, access to my Flock account,” Harpe wrote. “Every search he conducted was for law enforcement use only and not for personal gain.”

Harpe said she was trying to assist another agency in the same way she would expect another agency to help Savannah police.

She also argued that the result would have been no different if she had personally conducted each search at her husband’s request and then provided him with the information.

“There was no malicious intent, no personal gain, and no intent to harm the Department or undermine public trust,” Harpe wrote.

She asked department leaders to consider her clean disciplinary history, years of service and the investigation’s finding that the searches were related to law enforcement work. She requested a written reprimand or, at most, the one-day suspension Nowinsky recommended.

Gavin denied her appeal Aug. 11, and the police chief’s office agreed with the termination recommendation two days later.

Below file video: GBI arrests 4 ousted Savannah Police employees

Civil Service Board appeal withdrawn

Harpe requested a hearing before Savannah’s Civil Service Board on Aug. 19. City records show her termination took effect Sept. 26.

She withdrew the appeal around Sept. 28, and her Oct. 13 Civil Service Board hearing was canceled.

The newly obtained documents do not explain why she withdrew the appeal.

Harpe’s case was part of a wider SPD investigation into alleged Flock misuse. Several other former employees were accused of searching for romantic partners, former partners or other people for personal reasons.